Hollywood Highland

Security for the glitzy opening of Hollywood & Highland's Governors Ballroom was intense . Even stars were asked for photo IDs as they arrived at "Stars 2001" to benefit the Fulfillment Fund, which provides scholarships and mentoring to local high school and college students. The dinner for 1,200 honored DreamWorks SKG partner Jeffrey Katzenberg, who admitted , "I'm a reluctant honoree.

When Edgar Martirosyan showed up at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday with a stack of pizza boxes in hand, he thought he was delivering a few pies to some hardworking Oscar staffers. But Martirosyan, co-owner of Big Mama's and Papa's Pizzeria on Sunset Boulevard, soon found himself being led onto the Oscar stage by host Ellen DeGeneres. With 43 million viewers watching at home, he was instructed to hand out slices to some of Hollywood's biggest stars, including Julia Roberts and Jared Leto.

Designers and developers of the new Hollywood & Highland retail and entertainment center will discuss the project from conception to completion Wednesday at a panel discussion presented by the Los Angeles District Council of the Urban Land Institute. Speakers will include senior executives of TrizecHahn Development Corp., developer of the project, along with representatives of the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency and the architectural, planning and legal consultants for the project.

The cinematographers of "12 Years a Slave," "Captain Phillips," "The Grandmaster" and "Gravity" were among seven nominees announced Wednesday morning for the 27th American Society of Cinematographers Awards. "Inside Llewyn Davis," "Nebraska" and "Prisoners" also saw their cinematographers nominated. The ASC usually chooses five feature film nominees, but this year a three-way tie expanded the list to seven. All but two are previous ASC nominees. "Prisoners" marks the 12th nomination for Roger Deakins, who won the ASC Award last year for "Skyfall," and previously for "The Man Who Wasn't There" (2001)

A Los Angeles developer is planning to build a $100-million apartment and retail development near the Hollywood & Highland entertainment complex. Champion Real Estate Co. paid $20 million for a 2.76-acre collection of parcels, some of which will be redeveloped, President Robert Champion said Thursday. The property was purchased out of receivership. Champion Real Estate's Hollywood project, which has not been designed, would take at least a year to be approved by city officials and an additional two years to build, Champion said.

Oscar's New Digs: The Hollywood & Highland complex under construction on eight acres along Hollywood Boulevard next to Grauman's Chinese Theatre is coming along nicely. The group of buildings and courtyards will include the Kodak Theatre, soon to be the permanent home of the Academy Awards ceremonies. Wolfgang Puck will have his own kitchen off the Grand Ballroom, where he can cater the Governors Ball after the awards (and every other event there).

A homeless man accused of killing a woman visiting one of Hollywood's most famous tourist destinations was well known to authorities. Over the last eight years, Dustin James Kinnear, 26, was arrested at least 46 times, including seven arrests for assault with a deadly weapon, according to court records and interviews. Along the Hollywood Walk of Fame, he had a reputation as an aggressive panhandler and troublemaker. His mother said he had been in and out of mental health treatment facilities since age 5 and suffered from multiple conditions that could make him violent.

The Tea Room at h.wood is an exclusive one-room club within an already exclusive nightclub. Like a glammed-out Russian nesting doll, it is tucked inside the stolid concrete frame of h.wood, which is located at the far end of the Hollywood & Highland complex in the tawdry heart of Hollywood. It cracks its doors only on Wednesdays, when a rush of sultry young women and slender young men with intricate tattoos wait in line for admission. Very few will get in, however. The Tea Room, which is owned by night-life veteran Loyal Pennings and a duo of driven 29-year-old entrepreneurs named John Terzian and Brian Toll, trades inaccessibility for its hot-spot cachet.

Spiky-haired "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest announced Wednesday that he'll soon start taping a daily TV show live from the Hollywood & Highland complex in Hollywood. Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn, who was on hand for the announcement, touted the news as a major economic coup for the city and as further evidence of an ongoing Hollywood revival.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX) -- Taking the tour This year's route will give participants a tour of some of the city's landmarks and highlights. Hollywood Bowl Soon after the start near Universal City, runners will head downhill past the Hollywood Bowl. -- Hollywood & Highland At Hollywood & Highland Center, site of the Academy Awards ceremonies, Walk of Fame regulars such as Darth Vader, Superman and Elmo pose for pictures with tourists. -- Hancock Park South of Melrose Avenue, the route passes through a residential area of tree-lined streets and lovely old homes.

The Paley Center for Media is flipping the channel -- or location, rather -- for its annual TV fête. The 31st annual William S. Paley Television Festival, better known as PaleyFest, will move to the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland (a.k.a. the home of the Academy Awards) in the coming year. In previous years, the open-to-the-public gala that celebrates TV has been held at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills. “Moving PaleyFest to the landmark Dolby Theatre is an extraordinary testament to the festival's growth over the years,” said Pat Mitchell, president and CEO of the Paley Center for Media, in a statement.

Muji, the Japanese design firm that had expected to open a Hollywood pop-up store Dec. 3 and a permanent U.S. flagship on Dec. 14, announced that the pop-up will not launch until Dec. 7. The target opening date for the permanent store remains unchanged, a spokeswoman said. The company offered no explanation for the pop-up postponement. As reported previously, the location for both pop-up and permanent store is Hollywood Boulevard, near the TLC Chinese Theatre (formerly Grauman's)

Los Angeles, it's time to meet your Muji. The Tokyo-based retailer with 380 locations in Japan, 200 stores in other countries and a devoted following among design aficionados here in the U.S. is scheduled to open its first store in Southern California on Dec. 14. An 8,600 square feet, Muji Hollywood will be larger than seven other Mujis in this country and will serve as the flagship for Muji U.S.A. , business coordination and development representative Kyoko Hirota said during a tour of the construction site Saturday.

For 90 minutes Monday, City Councilman Mitch O'Farrell, accompanied by Los Angeles street officials and a scrum of TV cameras, informed Hollywood tour bus operators that they can no longer sell tickets from sidewalk kiosks. The mood seemed to be one of disbelief. "I never thought this day would come," said "Melrose" Larry Green, who sells tickets for Openbustours.com outside a T-shirt shop on Hollywood Boulevard. "We have to make a living and this will make it tougher. " O'Farrell's team handed out dozens of letters informing tour vendors that a city ordinance that took effect Sunday makes it illegal to sell tickets from the public right-of-way.

On a recent postcard-perfect day, James Foutch is selling tours of movie stars' homes from a prime location on Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame, just as he has for more than a decade. But his customary spot on the gray terrazzo sidewalk, studded with pink stars, is about to change. In a crackdown aimed at managing the mobs of people visiting the wildly popular venue, Foutch and other sightseeing bus operators are being forced to the sidelines. Starting on Sunday, sales of bus tours from the Walk of Fame will no longer be permitted.

Hugh Jackman brought his Wolverine claws with him Saturday as he took over the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood for a benefit concert to raise money for the Motion Picture & Television Fund, the charity that provides healthcare services to retired entertainment professionals. The one-night concert, which took place at the home of the Academy Awards ceremony at the Hollywood & Highland complex, brought it an estimated $1.85 million. "Hugh Jackman ... One Night Only" was a version of the "X-Men" actor's 2011 Broadway concert production "Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway.

The Guise Archives Eyewear Co. is introducing Pasadena-designed, Italian-made Tavat Eyewear with a special price of $100 off on Sunday. The collection features “Melanin” lenses to protect eyes from the sun, plus a number of other technological features. Tavat's design team was led by the renowned late professor Norman Schureman of the Art Center School of Design in Pasadena. Guise is at 7928 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles. For store hours, call (323) 782-1093 or check the store's Facebook page for daily updates.

John Boal dreads it when an enjoyable summertime evening of symphonic music at the Hollywood Bowl comes to an end. Along with hundreds of other concertgoers, the 72-year-old Upland resident descends into the hot, claustrophobic tunnel that leads to the buses and shuttles that will take Boal and the others to their cars. "It's packed wall to wall with people," Boal said of the subterranean passageway that cuts under the southbound lanes of Highland Avenue. "It's horrible. " Boal said it can take him a quarter of an hour to make the 40-yard walk.

Romeo Doneza photographed groups of visitors descending a stairwell at the Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood on Aug. 15. Doneza used a Nikon D7000. Each week, we're featuring photos of Southern California submitted by readers. Share your photos on our Flickr page or reader submission gallery . Follow us on Twitter or visit latimes.com/socalmoments for more on this photo series.